Brook Lopez

In all the conversations about the rest of the starters and their future, are the Bucks interested in Lopez long term.

A season ago, he was a bench player for the Lakers and was an expiring $22M contract. The Bucks snatched him up for under $4M, and not much was made of it. He’s been a revelation this year- and while a lot of attention is being given to his offense, but being one of the league leaders in blocks means he’s helping to defend the paint in a way no one could have expected. This Ringer article (https://www.theringer.com/nba/...-giannis-budenholzer) details how he may not be a strong playoff player when the matchups are King. But we certainly have seen enough to think they’ll be able to duplicate their defensive success in the playoffs.

So what do you do? His brother makes $14M/season, and the Bucks might need to go that high if they want to run this roster back. That’s not happening. They may have more interest in Mirotic, who finishes his $12.5M deal this season and whose shooting is on a different level than Lopez. But as a C Lopez has proven he can still play, and has plenty of inside and outside game for the Bucks to think long and hard. And considering Lopez has never been out of the first round in his career, maybe he’ll want to stay on a team friendly deal.

Lopez is going to attract a ton of interest in the offseason. 7 foot guys that can shoot close to 37% from 3pt range do not grow on trees. And most “big men” that face him do not want to defend the perimeter. Much like Durant he can shoot over most of his defenders anyway!

It’s amazing to me he’s making 4MM this year. However, when I saw Julius Randle making about 7MM this year for a 20/10 guy that shocked me as well.

I could see someone giving Lopez at least 3 years and 50 million. He's not as good a rebounder as Kevin Love, but he shoots roughly the same percentage from 3 (Love is a 37% 3 point shooter for his career) and Lopez is a significantly better defensive player. Love and Lopez both turn 30 this year.

Love just signed an extension for 4 years and 120 million. There is no way Lopez isn't worth at least half that.

He’s better than Love- he plays defense and can protect the rim. If Klay Thompson can guard Love, he sure as hell can’t guard Lopez- Splash Mountain would eat him for dinner.

If the Bucks go the distance but fall short, maybe he comes back on a MLE or something. Because he’s a C, he has a more unique role. His use come playoff time will be one of the more intriguing plot lines of the postseason for the Bucks...

He’s better than Love- he plays defense and can protect the rim. If Klay Thompson can guard Love, he sure as hell can’t guard Lopez- Splash Mountain would eat him for dinner.

If the Bucks go the distance but fall short, maybe he comes back on a MLE or something. Because he’s a C, he has a more unique role. His use come playoff time will be one of the more intriguing plot lines of the postseason for the Bucks...

Yep. That Ringer article really nails it. Will Al Horford, Miles Turner, Serge Ibaka, or Embiid play him off the floor because of his inability to get out to defend the 3? If those guys can't force Lopez off the floor, the Bucks almost certainly win the series. If Lopez is forced to play fewer minutes it becomes more of a tossup, then it will come down to whether Mirotic, Ilyasova, or DJ Wilson can give them some quality minutes.

When both Giannis and Lopez are in, almost everything in the paint is being challenged by two elite shot blockers.

Remove From Your Block List

Manage Follow Preferences

Block

When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.